He is a former advertising man who got his theology degree and started a church in Kentucky, only to find his true calling in an art form he is credited with starting and that landed him in the 2012 finals of NBC-TV’s “America’s Got Talent” show.

Today, 65-year-old Joe Castillo — a native of Mexico City who now calls Atlanta home — is an in-demand speaker and presenter for both religious and business groups.

A look at his calendar shows just how in-demand he is, as his newfound career is taking him across the nation and around the world.

Castillo’s work has mesmerized audiences wherever he goes, as he performs with sand on a table, with his work projected on a big screen and choreographed to music.

Tickets are $3 each and are available at Topeka Bible Church, 1101 S.W. Mulvane, which is bringing him to the capital city.

The Friday night show already is sold out, and with TPAC available, the church booked Castillo for a second night.

In a recent phone interview, Castillo said he had a hand in developing the new art form about seven years ago.

He said he had always been an artist, doing everything from drawing caricatures on the beach to drawing for his ad agency.

When he became a pastor, he was looking for a new way to communicate to his congregation. One afternoon, he went to a hardware store, bought some wood and glass and made a light table from which he began to do his sand art.

A camera was placed overhead, projecting his work live on a large screen.

“I’d never done it before,” he said, “and I’d never seen anybody do it.”

Soon, word spread of Castillo’s artistry, which was so dramatic it regularly moved people to tears.

He would do Bible stories with his sand art that depicted the life of Jesus and the Easter story.

Castillo was invited to perform his artistry to audiences across the nation, which led to him moving to the Atlanta area, where he could be closer to a major airport.

Though the TPAC performances are for those 13 and older, Castillo said he has seen nearly all age groups hooked by his presentations.

“That’s the crazy thing about it,” he said. “Every age group, from kindergarten through senior citizen, gets captivated by watching the images on the screen.”

One of his most-requested performances is called “Sand Story 9/11,” which commemorates the tragic events of the terrorist attacks along the eastern seaboard a dozen years ago.

He said he just returned from Nairobi, Kenya, where one of his presentations was on another terrorist act — the September siege at the large Westgate shopping mall in which at least 72 people were killed.

“I never talk while I’m working,” he said, “It’s like St. Francis said, ‘Preach the Gospel all the time, and if necessary, use words.’ ”

Though he didn’t say it, Castillo is regarded as a gifted speaker in English and Spanish.

As Christmas season has arrived, Castillo promised the nativity scene would be included in one of his TPAC segments.

“For the vast majority of people,” he said, “they’ve never seen anything like this before.”

His wife, Cindy, travels with him and assists him in getting things ready for his shows.

“She does all the work,” he said. “I just play in the sand.”

Comedian Michael Joiner will loosen up the audience as the opening act for the show.